Warpig

I've heard that live plankton on 2000 lb game tackle works a treat....

I found this on the www: IM6 is a 'Grade' of Magnamite, a graphite product of Hercules Inc. BASF makes a similar product, as well as others. The important thing about IM6, IM7, IM8 ratings for fishing applications is the tensile modulus. Most dept. store rods that are graphite composites are around 30-35 million psi tensile modulus. The IM is a shorthand for that tensile rating. IM6 = 40 million IM7 = 41 million IM8 = 45 million Tensile modulus briefly is: (Courtesy Owens-Corning) "When a bar is pulled in tension, it has to get longer. The tensile modulus is used to calculate how much longer it will get when a certain load is applied to it. Units are normally millions of pounds per square inch. Higher numbers indicate materials which will not elongate as much as others when they are being compared under equal tensile loading conditions." That elongation, or elasticity, is what allows the rod to spring and bend back. So IM6 is a graphite material that is not a stiff as IM8. The significance of this (as I understand it) is that IM6 rods will generally have more material in the blank to compensate for the lower modulus, and so will be generally more resistant to NON-FISHING abuse than higher IM rods. IM (bigger number) rods will be lighter and better-performing for a given weight rod, but will have thinner side walls. How's that grab ya?

What about if they're trailing a 2/0 deceiver and a 8WF flyline?... I haven't quite done that yet, but had plenty of bust-ups on kingies and giant trevally etc where the fish has taken a big lure, 3 m of 50 lb leader and a few metres of mainline. Anyone caught a fish trailing anything long? I guess such fish would be to preoccupied to eat anything, but I'm always concerned about them when this happens.

I bought a spool of 4 lb pink about 8 weeks ago from K-mart. It's a little bit furry, but still as strong as hell after 7 or so uses. I have snagged up twice, and both times the leader knot (8 lb vanish) has broken before the uni knot.

Howdy Jaso. I guess I'm about 3 weeks ahead of you in the silly stick stakes. The first time I went out it was just ridiculous, not to mention kind of depressing given the cost of my new flyrod... Anyway, what I did was to read a lot of articles on the www. This one, for example, isn't too bad: http://www.sexyloops.com/flycasting/contents.shtml But this really short series by Lefty is the best: http://www.flyfisherman.com/skills/lkcastingbasic/ Learning a physical activity by reading written instructions is CLEARLY not for everyone, but Lefty's article really worked for me. I went straight out and more-or-less cast OK straight away after reading it and thinking about what Lefty is trying to say. I got up to 70+ feet with the #8 after about 3 h practice, but have subsequently stuffed the whole thing by developing tailing loops. I've tied 3 proper flies on, but have lost them all by whip-cracking on the backcast... We'll get there!

By the way, this is mentioned as an attribute of the Certate reels from that Daiwa website: Washable Intensive studies of saltwater influence have resulted in the development of a washable construction for saltwater use. A water 'duct' at the bottom of reel allows effective water discharge and simplifies maintenance by allowing the reel to be washed after use, without concern for drainage.

They all go into formaldehyde solution, and marine biologists aren't big on formalise and release... The poor bastard actually had to dissect them to look for the otoliths (ear bones), which contain growth rings related to the age of the fish (same as trees). Hundreds of hours looking down a microscope working with a pair of needles...

I know this is serious cheating, but a couple of years ago I helped out on a research project where we used a fine drag net to see what was living in the sea grass in Botany Bay. Obviously LOTS of tiny fish: bream, leatherjackets, luderick, pipefish (LOTS and LOTS of pipefish), but I thought the jewies were the most interesting. They look nothing like what you'd expect them to look when they're less than 1.5 cm long! A visitor also came to our University a few years ago with a pile of juvenile pelagics he caught off Kona, Hawaii in a plankton net. Two cm-long marlin and broadbill are bizarre: all eyes and a tiny beak.

Howdy Alexit. I bought a Loomis Pescator #8 combo on Saturday. It was within your price range. The rod seems right for the money. The reel is suitable for line storage purposes...need I say more? The WF8 flyline, tapered leader and dacron backing that came with it appear to be good enough quality, although I am far from an expert in this area. Unfortunately I can't tell you whether it casts well or not, mainly owing to the fact that I can't cast yet! I decided on this gear after considerable research: either this or the 'Innovator' kits were the most often recommended combos. I took the #8 rather than the #7 in an attempt to increase my casting opportunities in windy weather, and also because I get up north a lot and have developed a penchant for queenies and GTs.

Yeah, not a great price, by any means, but they're actually passable SPs. They're made out of some wierd material that falls apart like a really stiff Aeroplane-style jelly after a few hours (not at all like Gulps). They don't move around much without some rod input, but fish seem to go for them. Talking about SPs, but on the other end of the price range, those Tsunami Pro rigged SPs that were everywhere last year seem to have vanished, at least from Sydney shops. The 2' and 4' white / silver fish (vibrotail-style) models were destructive on queenfish, GTs, golden trevs, wolfies etc. and fair on barra. Last March I got them for $5.95 for 6 rigged lures from Coffs Harbour. I ran out last year (4 months in the top end) so never got a chance to try them on kingies, sambos, bonito etc down here. They handle WAY, WAY more speed than any of the more expensive models I've tried, so you'd expect them to work well. Pity.

Thanks for that fellas. Haven't been to Bohm for ages: must get up there for a look. By the sound of it, most of you don't hold Ande in particularly high regard....maybe I should be looking for something else. I've had a look at Stren lately: it looks pretty good so far (except for the price tag...). I haven't come across Platypus Super 100, Bung, so my comment about 'all' Platypus line being OK was perhaps a little bit of an over-generalisation. I never tried out that wacky 'flatline' they had out a while back, either. All the best, the 'pig.

Do you know where you can still buy Ande pink? I bought the last of it from Thornleigh tackle, and haven't seen it anywhere else. Great line: I have no complaints after going through many thousands of metres worth of it! As far as cheap mono is concerned, try anything from Platypus. They're pretty large in diameter for their breaking strains, but if you can live with a few metres less on your spool, all of the Platypus range are very reliable, don't twist too badly and tie good knots.

I've never had a problem with plain old Castrol general purpose (LM) grease. It isn't waterproof, but as I a pretty keen on servicing that isn't a major concern to me. It is not a low viscosity grease. If you want waterproof, I recomment Valvoline VAL Plex EP grease. It is VERY waterproof. If you don't like it in your reel, you can use it in your trailer / 4WD wheel bearings...in fact if you're NOT using it in the latter applications, you probably should be. It has saved me a lot of breakdowns since I started using it in 2000. Also high viscosity. For low viscosity applications, motorcycle chain lube or Tac 2 works very well. It is like very heavy hypoid gear oil in an aerosol, and is really sticky. I often use this in reel bearings as it has a very strong film strength, and lasts a long time before breakdown. If you can get decent stuff, graphited grease works very well, and fits all of your criteria perfectly. I have no idea where to get it though: mine is probably 40 years old. It is excellent as far as lubricity is concerned, but does not adhere well to many surfaces. Are you sure you need low viscosity grease? Have you tried heavier stuff to see how it feels? I generally am quite happy to lose a little (repeat: a little!) performance for the sake of longevity, so I usually go heavy duty with lubricant choice. By the way, my HS overheads have greased bearings including on the spool shaft and can cast close to 80 m with a 45 g slug (well, last time I tried anyway. Age may have reduced this a bit now...).

We've circumnavigated the dam a few times casting at every likely looking structure, for a few tiny redfin and estuary perch (well, they looked like EPs to me. I suppose they could have been bass) only. There are reasonable-sized carp in there, but I reckon there are much more productive places to go if you're after carp! I didn't know the dam had been stocked. I guess it wasn't a particulary great location for stocking: it's way too easy to fish for too many people, resulting in lots of keep-the-lot types fishing there and bugger all population development. My experience with stocking programs (I work at a university) is that a lot of experimentation takes place: they look for spot that's easy to get to, chuck in a few hundred thousand fingerlings, and see what happens a couple of years down the track. Anyone know who stocked the dam? BTW: first post. G'day all!